Granite Springs Valley

Granite Springs Valley is east of Winnemucca Lake.

External Resources

• GNIS
• Giant concentric circles Granite Springs Valley, NV (smugmug)
• Mystery Giant concentric circles Granite Springs Valley, NV (Pace Aero Press)
  • Matt Hensarling posted that this was the Copper Valley Nuclear Test that was cancelled because of fears of creating "fault slippage" that would result in earthquakes.
  • Craig posted that it was something to do with Project Gondola, which was part of Operation Plowshare. Project Gondola was cancelled after there were problems with Project Faultless.
    • Project Gondola:
      • Scott Kaufman, "Project Plowshare: The Peaceful Use of Nuclear Explosives in Cold War America," p. 225 (not available in Google Books).
      • "The Off-Site Plowshare and Vela Uniform Programs: Assessing Potential Environmental Liabilities through an Examination of Proposed Nuclear Projects,High Explosive Experiments, and High Explosive Construction Activities Volume 3 of 3," In 1969, a nuclear cratering experiment was in the planning stages. One of the four sites under consideration was the Black Rock Desert! However, no field work was done.
  • Xelex posted "The Granite Springs Valley circles appear to be an arc array to collect particulate samples using 4-foot-square, petrolatum-coated aluminum sheets distributed in a pattern downwind of a detonation point. Similar features can be found at Tonopah Test Range, site of Project Roller Coaster that included four plutonium dispersal tests (Double Tracks, and Clean Slate I, II, and III). There is another arc array southeast of Leuhman Ridge at the Edwards AFB rocket engine test site."

• • Xelex continues: "Arc arrays are typically used for collecting fallout samples from surface (or shallow subsurface) bursts. If the Plowshare shot Gondola was to be an excavation test, it would make sense to collect fallout data."